Battle of the Mareth Line
Mareth Line, southern Tunisia
What happened
The British Eighth Army under Bernard Montgomery, with the New Zealand Corps under Bernard Freyberg, fought the Italian-German First Army under Giovanni Messe. The Mareth Line was a chain of forts built by the French in the 1930s across southern Tunisia. A British attack straight at the line gained ground but could not break through. Montgomery then sent the New Zealand Corps on a wide 'left hook' through the Tebaga Gap, and the Axis forces had to withdraw.
Why it matters
Why it matters: It broke the Axis hold on the Mareth position and opened the coast road north. This was the only route for the Eighth Army to advance toward Sfax.
What came next
The Axis army fell back to Wadi Akarit, about 40 miles further north, and the Eighth Army kept advancing. Freyberg later served as Governor-General of New Zealand from 1946 to 1952.
Did you know?
The French general who had designed the Mareth Line, Georges Catroux, was on hand in Algiers to advise the British on how to attack it.
Timeline
- 16 March 1943The battle begins.
- 26 March 1943The New Zealand Corps attacks through the Tebaga Gap.
- 29 March 1943The New Zealand Corps takes Gabès.